Theories/Speculation

• Mercantilism, the dominant economic theory in Europe from the 16th to the 18th centuries, held that nations should maintain trade surpluses by establishing colonies to buy the ruling country's products and export raw materials, especially gold and silver.
  
  

Considerations

• Classic economic theorists of the 1700s, especially Adam Smith, advocated free trade over the mercantilist approach. Classical theory held that nations did not necessarily need trade surpluses.
  
  

History

• The United States' last trade surplus was in 1991. Except for that year, the U.S. has run consistent trade deficits since the mid 1970s. Its largest trade deficit is with China, a country that enjoys large trade surpluses with many nations.
  
  

Geography

• Although the U.S. has run large trade deficits overall, it has small trade surpluses with a few countries, including Egypt, Australia, the Netherlands and Great Britain.
  
  

Expert Insight

• According to the Economic Policy Institute, the top surplus industries for the U.S. (in which it exports more than it imports) include aircraft and aircraft equipment, construction machinery, and chemicals and related products.